On May 10th, the District negotiators declared impasse. This means that they have refused to continue negotiating and have given us their “last, best and final offer.” To encourage the District to come back to the bargaining table, we have been circulating the following petition.

To: West Valley-Mission Community College Board of Trustees

The faculty union, ACE AFT 6554, has been negotiating openly and honestly, expecting that the District would do the same. The ACE Bargaining Committee has surveyed faculty, and prepared and negotiated fair proposals with clear rationale. Unfortunately, the District has not negotiated openly or with the same attention to detail and fairness. They have declared impasse even as ACE negotiators offered more bargaining dates to come to an agreement.

We, the undersigned of the West Valley-Mission Community, stand together in support of the faculty union, ACE, AFT 6554, to achieve a fair contract for WVM faculty. We support the union’s bargaining team to:

· Preserve shared governance;

· Secure quality and affordable healthcare;

· Gain fair compensation; and

· Achieve equity for Associate Faculty

We request that the District return to the table with the faculty and reach a fair and equitable contract settlement quickly.

This petition may be forwarded to other WVM faculty, staff, students, and members of the community.   Deadline for this online petition is June 19, 2016!

Our goal is to present 500 signatures to the Board of Trustees at its June 21 meeting, 7:00pm, WVC Boardroom.